As I get older, I find myself becoming more conservative.

I'm 49. I may act like a kid most times, but there's no denying that I'm officially middle aged now. I have high blood pressure and a receding hairline. And even if I don't shout at them about it, I don't like it when those damned kids are on my lawn.

That's a metaphor, of course. My "those damned kids" I mean Fox News and their Republican muppets. By "my lawn" I mean Medicare and Social Security. By "high blood pressure" I mean "hypertension"--which somehow sounds worse.

But I really am becoming more conservative as I age along. Besides Medicare and Social Security, I also want to conserve the environment, the middle class, and the Bill of Rights. I want to conserve the economic wellspring of I want to conserve the national parks from greedy developers (or "despoilers" as we conservatives call them) who will liberally scatter their pollutants about the ecosystem. In fact, they are "radicals"--literally, as they rip up the ground up by the roots, looking for mineral deposits that should belong to all the people, not just a few hoity toity eastern liberal elites who went to Ivy League schools and now control soulless, and thus unChristian, corporations.

As a conservative, I steep myself in traditional American values and constantly worry that we are losing touch with the things that made America great. I stand up for great conservative institutions that built and empowered America's greatestness: labor unions and civil rights movements and the sanctity of marriage. As a conservative, I wish to see these institutions spread to include all Americans. When we bring all Americans into the mainstream, the waters swell and the lifting tide raises all boats.

I am aging aggressively now and becoming starkly pro-business. When megacorporations drive mom-and-pop shops out of business, I know it weakens America. I support whatever will build new businesses--like extensive investment in the country's physical commercial infrastructure: repair more roads, build more bridges, expand internet connectivity, clean up the cities, shift to renewable, sustainable energy sources, and stamp out poverty. These are the things that built America, from the Erie Canal to the Transcontinental Railroad to the telegraph networks to the interstate highway system. When America builds infrastructure, business flourishes. Do that more, I say.

I stand firmly in favor of the American Work Ethic: hard, honest work is not only pro-family, it is also the best way to instill character-buiding family values in future generations of America. So I support spending more money on education, more money on job training, so that employers can be attracted to a superior American workforce, and more money on OSHA inspections on these new American workplaces--because I want to conserve American fingers and backs and lungs along with the rest of the American things I favor conserving. People who lose their health in an unsafe work environment lose the benefits and joy that comes from an honest day's labor.

I'm particularly conservative on taxes. No more free rides, I say!! Everyone should pay their fair share of taxes. No more deadbeats--I'm looking at you, investor class, who only pay 15% income tax on your incomes because it's all catorized as capital gains. You've been getting more government than you've been paying for--for decades now! The bill is due, maybe overdue judging from the size of the annual deficit. Time to pay the bill and tote your own load, you country club slackers! You tell me being an investment capitalist is a real job? Well, time to pay a real grown-up's tax rate then--or don't you believe in America, capitalism, and honest work? And you other tax slackers, yes, I'm looking at you corporations who pay no taxes at all! Get off the government welfare, Walmart, and quit sucking on Uncle Sam's teat! No more free loaders!!

I am a religious conservative too! I believe in churchin'. I think it's vital for kids to grow up in an enviroment rooted in values and a clear sense of right and wrong. No society in history has been so arrogant and neglectful as to put that burden solely on parents. We need a growth of churches, a swelling of churches, a veritable mushrooming of spirituality in this country. And obviously the more religions the better. Let all stand as equals, for they are created equal (and what is more American than that idea?). Let there be Christian churches and Jewish synagogues and Muslim mosques and Pagan covens and Buddhist temples and Flying Spaggheti bowls and atheist what-ever-ya-wanna-call-ums because enduring family values, by criminey, take a whole village to build and sustain.

And keep 'em all the fuck out of politics.

I am a stallwart economic conservative, an Adam Smith conservative, by damn! Adam Smith's radical insight in the 18th century was the understanding that the source of a nation's wealth is not land, but labor. Else, why would small nations like England and France come to dominate large ones like China and Russia? It is work that makes a nation great, and thus it is work that we must protect. That means bolstering American jobs, expanding American jobs, and when necessary protecting American jobs. Oh, I believe in open and vigorous trade too; I'm no isolationist. But above all else, it is the number of people working profitable, upwardly mobile jobs that will tell us how prosperous America is.

I believe in family values because I believe in the value of all families. It's not just cold economics that makes me feel that way. However I will point out that economic statistics tell us that married couples are better citizens--they commit fewer crimes, own more insurance, raise kids who are more likely to be college-bound, live longer, get sick less, earn more, and are more likely to be homeowners than their unmarried counterparts. So I am pro-traditional marriage and I wish see traditional marriage extended to everyone who wants to enjoy the benefits of it. Also, I'm a small government conservative, so states should quit telling private citizens who they can and can't marry.

But I am also pro-family values because I'm a sentimental conservative. I love a good wedding. They're not just good for business; they're good for the heart. I believe in the enduring family values of America. I believe in infrastructure improvements like George Washington did--I am all but mad for them! I believe in honest work and honesty pay like Abraham Lincoln did--and history shows it is the work of strong labor unions that best secures widespread prosperity to all. I am a "gung ho" American--from the Chinese phrase meaning "pull together"--working as a team we all benefit when the greatest number of us prosper. It makes no conservative sense that each of person is just in it him or herself. History rejects that model. Competition is healthy, but cooperation is vital. I believe in a healthy balance between competition and cooperation: I wish to conserve that from the hateful, organized criminals who plunder companies from Wall Street, destroying the real wealth of work in America and exchanging it for the illusory wealth of electronic capital. They are pirates and there are whole baneful boardrooms full of such criminals who ought to be put behind bars. Cause, yes, I am a law and order conservative too.

Above all else, I believe in that most enduring of American values: progress. I wish to see that conserved most of all. The history of our land, of our people (and as a conservative, I believe we are literally "one people") is a story of expanding rights and expanding inclusion to include the talents and dignity of all of us. We all contribute. We are all stakeholders and this is a land where, as Jefferson and Franklin taught, the few should not prosper at the expense of the many. I believe in values that are deeply rooted in the American dream--that if you work hard, if you play by the rules, and by jingo if you make that 1% play by the ever-lovin' rules too, then we'll all do better. If you look out for the least of us, then, you look out for all of us, because you expand who all we mean when we say "we."

This is the kind of conservative I am. And you are all free now to get off my lawn.

44. Same here....

29. Let's see here

From birth to 19 I was a Republican.
From 20 to 21 I was a Democrat
From 21 to 25 I was no party but leaned slightly to the left.
From 25 to 28 I fell backwards in to Republicanism.
From 28 on I've been a Democrat again. And getting more liberal the older I get.

42. You've just about come full circle

3. Wonderful post! If only that was what modern Conservatives stood for!

But you are using the traditional definition of "Conservative" - now Conservative stands for no taxes, no "fellow citizen", poison the earth at will, and I'm all right Jack, screw you. And other mean and selfish things.
As I get older, I have learned to avoid the modern GOP Conservative if at all possible, and when not possible to avoid them, to protect myself and my family as best I can.

62. i've been saying this for quite awhile

i'm a conservative when it comes to conserving our resources, conserving our environment, conserving our middle income way of life. i have really never wanted to be wealthy (even though by hubby has stated a few times he wanted to be rich so he could be a damn philanthropist), just in the middle. i want to conserve our public education, our libraries, our social system. but, that's not the conservative they're talking about, is it?

25. Not to hijack this thread, but my case is kinda the opposite.

I'm 22 and although I voted for Obama both times, I'm also becoming more liberal as I get older.

For example, just 4 years ago I opposed 420 legalization and was on the fence about marriage equality. I never do drugs, and since I have asthma, I didn't want to go around inhaling marijuana smoke. I also felt left out at my high school because it was a huge fad for people to go around doing drugs and drinking. But eventually I got over it and realized that people are gonna' smoke it whether it's legal or not, and that it's no more harmful than alcohol and tobacco are. With regards to same-sex marriage, I was on the fence about that because while I kinda felt gays should be allowed to marry, I was troubled about the belief that it was a sin for Christians to either be gay or support same-sex marriage. So, yeah...that's my story.

28. Bucky, I tell the righties at work the same thing

I'm conservative on the environment, it's for our kids, it's for ever, not for the next quarter. I'm conservative on money, watch it, take care of it, stop giving it away to people who burn it for pleasure. I'm conservative on marriage, isn't it about love, & isn't that what's being articulated in marriage?

This gets them every time. They got suckered into a pretty ugly path, it's degrading all of us. There's nothing conservative about it. They don't see it in themselves until you point it out.

30. K&R! Says it all. All brainwashed Fox viewers must read this!

31. What else the Conservatives of today stand for.

Erase the Gays
Imprison the Blacks
Impoverish the Middle Class
Establish a Christian Nation
Immigrants "Go back where you came from"
Frack it, mine it, pollute it, extract it, make a buck.
"I got mine, get your hands off it."
Charity is for churches, not Government.
2nd Amendment, 2nd Amendment, 2nd Amendment!!!
1st amendment for me, but not for those hippy, commie, liberal occupiers.
Love the fetus, turn your back on the child.

54. Are you a communist?

61. Communists are NOT liberal. Liberalism is about personal freedom.

Freedom from government, freedom from corporate control, freedom from want & hunger, freedom for all, even if that means we all have to pay a little more in taxes to get all of us there.

Communism is about share what we tell you to share... or else! Which is the opposite of freedom. More to the point: liberal economics works, because it's about flexibility and adapting to circumstances. Communist economics does not work, because it's about zero sum thinking, coersion, and denial of personal property rights (along with other rights of the individual).

Liberty and liberal have the same root word, Liber, an ancient Roman god of fertility and wine. Communists don't like wine and their birth rates always drop off when they get into power. I say, "poo" on communists.

38. Alas, you are giving the definition

of classical conservatism, which as you clearly understand is not what those who currently call themselves Conservatives are talking about at all.

I will disagree with you about the churching. It is entirely possible to raise children in a moral and ethical environment without ever setting foot inside any sort of house of worship. All too often what is taught in churches is that those who don't believe our way are wrong or evil or must be eliminated. Those are not good values at all.

40. Great post. Excellent rehabilitation of a good word.

41. Agree w/ most of this, but not the churches comment

especially

atheist what-ever-ya-wanna-call-ums

Because putting the word 'atheism' in a comment about churches makes as much sense as 'Kosher pork'.

Would like to add that I must be conservative on the issue of Choice, because I believe that 'choice' should be confined to those whose bodies could possibly be affected by the choice, i.e. the woman in question.

To be fair though, back in my day, music was dissonant, angrier & filled with sex! This auto-tuned romantic pop crap needs to GO!
Which is a statement that I may or may not have yelled before!

47. That is the kind of conservative I can study on.

48. Your subtlety got lost

Very sweetly subversive commentary which, unfortunately, went over the heads of too many of the commentators here. Perhaps it is the self-righteous importance many of the posters here feel about their own opinions or even about themselves. I, too, based on what your wrote, have become "more conservative" as I grow older. After all, "conservative" always meant to me conserve what is best, discard what isn't and move onward to the next plateau of progress.

49. I'm moving in the opposite direction.

Back when I was in my early twenties I was bit more conservative. Now that I'm in my late thirties I've become more liberal. Why? I think the catalyst was George W Bush. He was so far to the right that he made conservative thinking looks very bad. Another reason is that as time went by I learned more about the world and people. I saw the world is not just black in white but many shades of gray in many cases. Extreme conservativs seem to only see black and white and seem a bit naive on how the world works imo.

52. Bucky

Bucky

You doesn't sound "conservative" at all - maybe a little like a old style Conservative who have benefited from the "system" and want it preserved for the next couple of generations, at least not as the current crop of "conservatives" who is more radicals than most anarchist out there...... - but you sounds more like middle of the road social democrat to me...
Diclotican

55. Nicely said!

This is the kind of "conservatism" that my union-steward, diesel mechanic, Army veteran dad raised me in. Look out for those less fortunate than you and for those who disagree with you, basically live and let live. Don't be a greedy idiot, because you never know what position YOU may find yourself in someday.

It wasn't until the rise of Limbaugh and his clones (not to mention freepers and Yahoo right-wingers) that I found out that my Dad's values were "un-American," "Marxist-Leninist" and "traitorous to the Constitution." It wasn't until recently that such august personages informed me that my views violated the oath to uphold the Constitution that I took many years ago in the United States Air Force. Beck, Hannity etc. say so, and that makes it true.

BRAVO SIERRA!

Again, nicely said...but what about health care for all? Is that "conservative" too?

80. "too much"

No, seriously, if you know of a large society that has developed a humanitarian ethic (even if, obviously, not consistantly applied) without deriving that humanism from a religious foundation, please name it to me. I teach history for a living and I can think of none off the top of my head.

I of course agere that religion is a source of a lot of conflict in the world--usually needless conflict--and further that it adds gratuitous passions and prejudices to intensify other non-religious conflicts. But religion and religious fervor were also central driving factors in the greatest advances in history--the Scientific Revolution, the Enlightenment, the Renaissance, the Civil Rights Movement, the anti-war and many of the anti-colonial movements of the 19th and 20th Centuries, and the sundry Human Rights campaigns in history.

71. I was always moderately liberal.

Now I am just plainly liberal.

I was an independent before but voted for every Dem President since Clinton in '96 when I was 20.
As I reach nearly 37 next week I can pretty much say I have never been more liberal then now. It drives my conservative parents crazy. They think I will eventually "grow up" and become a Republican. Except I already have a husband, a cat, two kids, a house, a mortgage. And so on. Oh, and did I mention I am almost 37. Sigh. They have been in denial over 20 years about me and my equally liberal brother.

73. I believe in Marriage and Family too...

But, I am grateful for the freedom to get a divorce. Sometimes doing the right thing is not the traditional route. There are a lot of kids much better off with a single loving parent than growing up in a home of fear and violence.

74. As liberal as ever

I will be 65 on March 1. I have always been a liberal. I was raised in a liberal family. My father was a very active member of the Democratic Party. He counted the Pennsylvania Democratic leaders among his friends. Many of them were guests at my wedding.

Like my father, I have become more liberal as I have aged. I still believe in the values of the Democratic Party. I believe that government has responsibilities towards the citizens. Government is not a business. It is not a for profit enterprise. It exists to serve the people.

75. kick

76. How many didn't read OP in full?

I'm with George Carlin on the use of language to deceive -- it sucks. I hate redefining words to mean the opposite.

I agree with the OP's old school definitions and the modern cons are indeed radicals.

If it ain't broke, don't fix it; if it's broke, don't ignore it.

I still go back and forth with my trying to understand how red state people vote against their own self-interest. I saw the articles where progs tried to explain that we just don't understand the poor republican mindset and how it seems like a rational decision on their part.

At my least charitable I say they are just ignorant fucks amenable to being misled because bumper sticker ideology appeals to their ignorance.